3 Things to Teach Your Child About Anxiety Right Now
Talking with a child about anxiety and its related attributes can be helpful to their perception of themselves - providing your child with information about anxiety can reduce possible feelings of confusion and shame. Anxiety can be managed successfully if it is openly talked about and acknowledged; feelings are less scary when we know what it is and how to oversee them! Anxiety is normal, adaptive, and there are internal and external signs.
Anxiety is very common, amongst all ages! It is important to reiterate that your child is not alone in their fears and feelings. Everyone experiences anxiety at times; for example, we have all felt what it feels like to get ready for our first day of something whether that is school or work, or how it feels to sit down before a test. You can also use statistics to ensure your child that anxiety is widespread! One statistic that you can share is, 7.1% of children aged 3-17 years (approximately 4.4 million) have diagnosed anxiety, according to the CDC.
Anxiety has helped humans prepare for danger for centuries, it is helpful because it triggers a flight or fight response that can become very useful in life. We either freeze in our tracks, fight the stressor, or avoid the stressor. This analogy can be used to describe almost any situation as well; to explain this to a child, one can use an example that is broadly understood. A great example to showcase how anxiety is adaptive, is to explain that if a human were in the woods and came across a dangerous animal, they would choose to freeze, fight, or run away from the animal; anxiety can cause us to freeze when we are overwhelmed, lash out at others, or avoid others or situations. Anxiety can also become unhelpful at times because it causes fear and/or worry; this can get in our way of functioning when we need to complete a task and that task seems overwhelming. For instance, if a project is due and we are overwhelmed by the amount of work needed to complete the assignment we may avoid it entirely until it is almost too late. It is important to view anxiousness from all angles in order to see its importance to functioning as well as to adapt to the behaviors it causes.
Teaching your child the signs of anxiety can be a great way to educate them on paying attention to their bodily responses! Two elements of anxiety are behaviors, thoughts and physical symptoms. Thoughts stemming from anxiety could be, “I wonder if my mom or dad will come home tonight…”, and physical symptoms of anxiety can be but are not limited to, stomachache, headache, tremors, or a person’s heart racing. Anxious thoughts and their somatic symptoms might make children stay away and/or avoid a person, place, or thing. Teaching a child to recognize the signs of anxiety can aid in their communication of their feelings; if someone is aware of the symptoms of the common cold, they will then be able to tell whoever needs to know that they are feeling that way - the same goes for anxiety! By teaching the signs and symptoms of anxiety, a child will then be able to come forward and acknowledge their concern(s). It is extremely important to remember that acknowledging feelings of anxiety is a learning process for children and parents alike; we are here to help with decreasing confusion and increasing education!
Healing Hart Wellness, LLC, specializes in working with young people with big feelings like anxiety, challenges related to ADHD, and struggles with big transitions like divorce, moving, or graduation. If you’re interested in more support, check out our upcoming Groups or schedule a complimentary consultation call.